this is "taking stock" for tuesday, may 27th, 2014. i'm pimm fox. the united states has unofficially started summer and it is cooling off. bar in someees ice areas. me how thistells new concept is catching fire in the united states. are you planning a scuba vacation? new business based on

creating artificial reefs. we will speak to the owner. , edible cups for your summer beverages. that and more over the next hour. let's get the headlines from carol massar. is eliminating hundreds of u.s. jobs well shrinking its business. this is according to people familiar with the matter. the moves are part of a plan to reduce assets and u.s. operations ahead of the rule that would require banks to bring in more capital. producerorld's largest is making a bid for hill scheier. -- hillshire. they are offering $45 a share will stop it is contingent on an agreement to acquire another food group. back to you. >> thank you carol massar. back from a surprise trip to

afghanistan, president obama said that the job for the united states is done there. the military presence will be almost nonexistent. joining us from washington is phil mattingly. he has more details. what are the details about the u.s. role in afghanistan? >> with the president laid out today is the wind down the strategy will stop military officials and u.s. officials have stated that 2014 is the end day. u.s. troops will no longer be in afghanistan. that is not quite true. there will be a residual force of 9800 individuals. they will stay there through january 1. they will stay there through the end of the year. then they will be cut in half. what the president said today that while american troops are for u.s.e, a new role forces exist in the country.

>> america's combat mission will be over. next her, afghans will be fully responsible for securing their country. will be in annnel advisory role. we will no longer patrol afghan cities or towns, mountain valleys. it is a task for the afghan people. >> one thing to note is that the president did say that will troops will remain in 2014 and 2015, but by 2016, the expectation is that the only group of individuals there will be a small security force. no troops past 2016. >> can anything happened to change this plan? >> a couple things. there's one topline it is a big concern. the newthis happens if afghan president does not sign a bilateral security agreement. hamid karzai is inclined to sign it.

they are waiting for the two individuals who are in the runoff of the presidential election. those individuals in the runoff have said that they will sign up stop that should be good to go. the other thing is if the situation on the ground changes. the u.s. has reduced those troops in half will stop if the situation gets worse, there's a chance that they will stay in the country. >> this comes a day before it is expected to be a big foreign-policy speech by the president at the u.s. military academy in west i. any preview of what we will get? >> the officials i have spoken to are pointing to that speech as their best opportunity to lay out conclusively what the administration's foreign policy is. afghanistan plays a role in that. we will hear the president say that the work is the united states an opportunity where they need to intervene in certain areas like syria.

i have the money and the capacity to do so. it is not an interventionist foreign policy. they do not feel like they have to go into countries and rebuild them. -- the president has received a lot of criticism about his foreign-policy. they hope that he will be allowed to put a coherent narrative together about his foreign-policy and white is effective. >> i want to thank you very much. phil mattingly, from washington. i want to stay with foreign policy for a moment. ukraine's government is facing significant losses in the east will stop the president-elect valid to wipe out the separatist. correspondent joins me in the art. let's talk about your trip to ukraine. what did you see? >> i spent a few days in the

city that you mentioned. the fighting was beginning to kick off. that has gotten significantly worse will stop there is a huge aerial bombardment by the army on these positions. they have been taking up by the air force. well i was there, the new ukrainian president seems to have felt that he can launch these attacks. the ukrainian army was holding back on a certain level. that has been a big change. >> is that because of the election results? >> he had a clear mandate. there was nothing that had been plaguing the interim administration. i think the military felt that it had the support of a new that you ares city describing, tell us where it is in the country. give us a little tour. sk is one of two

provinces in the east of ukraine. it is part of a separatist republic. they are predominantly russian. there are other big countries around. you have three main gateways to europe. one of the big issues for ukraine is over the gap with russia. that is something i got a chance to look at. >> ukraine's presidential elections may solve one major problem with stop a new president will face several serious challenges, including a contentious gas dispute with russia. >> speaking simply. >> he recently took over the state owns gas company. he gets all his gaffes from a russian energy giant. they have recently doubled their prices. leaders say that it is unreasonable.

it like having conversations with them about price? >> it is not constructive. there are no results. >> be called six involve the aging storage facilities and ukraine's internal divisions. they have a shared soviet past. >> the fighting may be taking place in the east, but in the peaceful west of ukraine, there is an economic and political dispute will stop it is focused on gas pipelines that are crucial to europe. 112 billion cubic meters of gas. around three quarters continue on to europe. the remaining amount is used to mask that way. natural gas they earn billions forollars, but it also pays domestic gas needs. that is where higher prices will hurt.

most of it is in the united states. tariffs. pay they are fixed. >> here's the problem. the ukrainian currently has fallen. when gas companies demand payment in dollars, people get squeezed. the russian prime minister said that that is not russia's problem. >> they are trying to get their debts repaid. they receive the repayment of the debt. >> the debt currently stands at 3.5 billion u.s. dollars. there is another 1.6 billion at stake next week. sometimes it is very efficient leverage. you can use it on a consumer. it is dependent on a large

supply. >> the issue is simple. russians are the only gig in town. the ukrainian leadership has no choice but to deal with and buy from them. >> a little more on ukraine. you have this travel around the country. if you go to a western part of ukraine, it does not look as if anything is amiss. >> in the western portion of town, it is right on the border with slovakia. it is very peaceful. it is 1000 miles away. you get to see what a huge country ukraine is. you have these aerial attacks. the city has a beautiful life. people have no concerns about stability or violence. it is a country that is split down the middle between east and west. kiev is easterly?

>> it is pretty central. that city itself has gone through a lot of violence. it is now very calm. we met tourists having dinner there. they were surprised to see the barriers from the protest a few months back. >> how about the freedom of travel? had problems, but you can take trains. there are no travel restrictions. there are no visa requirements. >> a holidaying crimea? >> i don't know about that. >> coming up, are you looking to fly in a private jet for the cost of a coach ticket? you will find out how they fly as many times a month as they want on a private jet. you can take less than $2000. we will find out and i will speak with a man who is creating artificial limbs to make your

snorkeling getaways more exciting. ♪

>> according to one research report, 30% of the world's aircraft are owned by certain companies. if you are looking to capitalize on this, surfair. a california airline that offers all you can fly for $2000. welcome jeff porter. tell us about surfair. where'd you find? >> good afternoon. out of anthe bay area airport called san carlos and would like to four different point. santa barbara, hawthorne,

burbank, and tahoe. it is simple. you give the sales pitch. month, you can fly as much as you want between those points. >> you talked about backers of the program and how it came to be. >> with my background in aviation, i ran a membership club. initiallyounder thought of this, i kicked myself. he had the vision. we went from there. it was simply about the matter of convenience. economic convenience and low stress travel. as you might suspect, between those points that i mentioned, there is a lot of travel.

have created a non-stress travel experience. service private terminals. you can arrive 15 minutes prior to departure time. they know you by name. the crew and the pilots help you with the luggage. off you go. convenience, of you are receiving anywhere from two or three hours. we are very much focused on those people. that is part of this. the aircraft equipment will stop it is swiss made. is a turboprop aircraft. it is fast, safe, reliable stop it is quiet. our interior seating is executive seating.

the front four seats face each other. what is interesting about this business model is the sense of community. i happen to be one of those wi-fi guys. when you close that question to our current membership, and we have 600 members, most of them say, no. we do not want wi-fi. we want interaction with other members. reservation, the mobile application. you can book a reservation and 30 seconds. you can opt in and allow other members to see you. they get to interact of each other. >> where do you want to find that? do you have plans for las vegas? >> we do. waiting for government approval to fly to las vegas. our primary focus is in the southwest.

it is more in california. there's not an infinite number. we have developed our five-year plan. we are now going through the process of deciding what that looks like. we are starting the process to take an additional aircraft. >> thank you for joining us. jeff porter, the chief executive of surfair. coming up on "taking stock," thinking ships will stop we will find out how they can actually help the environment. that is next on "taking stock." ♪

>> getting rid of old automobiles, it sounds like an environmental headache.

cases, a few single jump into the water, it can provide an environmental and economic benefit will stop joining us to discuss the business of artificial reefs is dave walter. he is the founder and owner of walter marine. david, explain what it is about making an artificial reef that can change the natural habitat? >> in the gulf of mexico, we have flat, sandy desert on him. -- bottom. if you put something there, it creates a habitat for bottom-dwelling fish. we have proven that it actually creates an environment. we use those in a variety of scenarios. fishing reef, snorkeling reef, oyster reefs. we have several different models. they are used for different purposes.

>> can you describe in terms of the scale these different rates? how they can they get? >> we make them anywhere from about three feet tall up to 20 feet tall. we make them out of concrete and limestone rock. rock isida limestone the perfect age for marine life. every animal that lives on a natural reef can live on our manufactured race. -- reff. >> are they expected to make? directharge about 1700 -- $1700. that includes everything. we have different types of race. -- reefs. we have public reefs as an alabama we have a private reef. it is for individual fishermen. we do a lot of those. they cannot own it, but the location a secret.

we have a 1200 mile square area. walter, can you describe the process of deploying these artificial reefs? vessel.ve a it is an old coast guard vessel. we converted it to do reefs. we can carry six of these 6000 pound reefs at one time. we can deploy one every three minutes. we go out with the vessel. we stop the locations and use the gps coordinates. we drop into the barn and release it. >> go ahead. ships.lso do i have done 14 ships. that may be the most anybody else has done. we do a ship for divers. we sometimes want to locate an old ship. we will find some government entity that wants to buy it all stop maybe the community will

come together and put some money together to buy the ship. we will take that out of sync it as well. >> one of the most recent thinking involved a ship. >> i found the ship in miami. i brought it to alabama, thinking i might sell it all stop but when i came in to alabama, people sought and they were lined up along the canal. they were cheering us on as we came in. someone put it on facebook. the community came together and formed a foundation and raise half $1 million to sink the ship. sister has a's restaurant and she put up most of the money. they named it "the lulu." lulu buffett, weekly advance on a bar.

since we do not use explosives to sink our ships because it might damage see life, we allowed everybody to get up close and personal. we were able to sink it. >> thank you for sharing your story. david walter, walter marine. ♪

this is "taking stock." a look at the market moving headlines. >> thank you pam. imm. donald sterling has agreed to let his wife take over the club. bank of america has been retained to handle the sale will stop that is according to people with direct knowledge of the situation. selling the club was going to lead to a potential legal battle that an nba. pimco said

executive is returning to the firm as a chief economist. he was previously the head of one of their group; the -- and left. brooklyn's economy outpaced new york city. the number drops in brooklyn grew 20%. that is a look at some of the headlines. back to you. >> thank you carol massar. a new biodegradable cup is called loliware. it won a jell-o mold competition. as ants are made alternative to disposable cups. andunder chelsea briganti director of sales jennifer love join me now. great to have you both here. >> we are so excited.

>> what exactly -- this is an edible cup. >> it is a collection of biodegradable and edible cups. we have for you a little drink. with a springtime lemonade mint in a citrus cup. the cup is truly biodegradable. biodegradable products are sometimes -- they do not biodegrade properly. they have bpa. , vegan, is bpa-free all-natural. it is a replacement. >> gluten-free? >> everything. >> let's start with this idea. you enter a contest. chelsea enters a contest and they use the jell-o mold concept as a material. not as a food itself. when you first heard about this, what did you think?

them a few months ago. i love what they are up to. one of the most exciting things is that it is responsible business. it is working to be sustainable and ethical. i think one of the most thrilling things about loliware from an advisor and investor standpoint is that loliware is poised to be the complete beverage experience. >> you drink the drink and udp cup? >> and there's nothing left over. >> we go on kick starter and we raised over $10,000. we received incredible demand from 35 countries. >> vale lobbies? >> they want because. they want to replace plastic cups. we are talking to one of the world's largest companies. >> you may know who they are.

>> how you make this? >> right now they are made a commercial kitchen. they are made by my cofounder and i. we are poised to go national and we are looking for a manufacturing is still it will stop right now they are handmade in new york city. >> it is a mold? >> wheezy is detected and now we use avatar -- we used to use pectin and now we use agar. it is the perfect cup will stop that's it goes away. how much does it cost? >> a four pack is $11.95. we are selling old cups to food service and weddings. it is an $80 million industry. we are selling to a lot of people. >> these are flexible. they feel like they might leak.

but they don't. >> they hold their shape for 48 hours. >> are the best of the are cap cold? >> it depends on the type of drink you are serving. the drink in the cup will be cold. >> there is a sticky quality to it. your hand is admitting he. >> that is an interesting point about what loliware can do. it is a delivery vehicle for flavoring or for a functional food. >> our dream is to create cups for marathon runners and athletes with vitamins and minerals during the marathon. there is a tremendous amount of waste. >> you could replace the plastic cups. after a marathon, no waste. that is an incredible idea. >> you need to drink it as quickly as you eat it. there is a funny aspect to this.

it does not have that gelatinous texture. quentin has a soft texture. it is similar to late whistle are -- >> and have a soft sector. it is similar to a twizzler. >> it can be customized? >> that's right. different colors and different flavors. >> what is your plan, to roll this out? need to raise $1.5 million to launch it in a big way. >> we have taken a look at the numbers would be sales channels that we focus on. weddings, corporate events. the beverage industry alone, the alcohol industry, it is an $800 billion industry. >> you mentioned google and disney. >> and ikea. >> they want to sell them or use them? >> they want to use them to

replace plastic cups. that is our vision for loliware. >> we are focused on retail as well. are focused on that particular sales channel. >> any competition? >> we have patents pending. there are candy cane cups. from: --ok at the eyes the ice cream cone, it is an experience. environmental projects -- products that change and experience. pointyou bring up this that the biodegradable products are biodegradable, but it does need to go somewhere. >> what people do not know is that they contain a chemical to help them do great. naturally in the

material, but they add another material to help them biodegrade. is truly biodegradable because it is edible. is biodegradable and is edible will stop the future of packaging and disposables is edible. >> what to do to invent this? >> amy trained industrial designer. we always had interest in the environment. loliware is being promoted by the center for social innovation. a we look at loliware as material that can create anything across functional food. packaging and developing water bottles. we are developing anything that can be biodegradable. >> this will take on a whole new meaning. cheers. congratulations. edible drinks, who knew? thank you very much. chelsea briganti and jennifer

love. with the memorial day weather a little hot to handle, i will speak to the founder of an ice bar. it will keep you hydrated and cold. later on, the owner of a new york city jazz club talks about the popularity for jazz falling all stop this is "taking stock." ♪

>> meteorologists have forecasted that the summer will be one of the hottest on record beentop how you keep cool in a bargain is made entirely of ice? bar that is made entirely of ice? has foure bar

locations throughout the united states. i am joined now by cofounder this is "taking stock" for tuesday, may 27th, 2014. -- this is "taking stock" for tuesday, .ay 27th, 2014. -- craig ling thank you very much for being here. >> it is great to be here. trajectory of starting on ice bar in new zealand. >> it started as a joke. we built a temporary ice bar for america's cup. people went crazy. we tried to take it down in three months and he continually grew and grew. we opened a second location. that group. then we outgrew ourselves in new zealand. we were very fortunate that an american company came along. they put money into the concept. it was in las vegas.

we went from there and it was amazing. >> when someone walks in to a minus5 ice bar, what do they see? >> people cost perception of an ice bar is funny. they do not know what they are expecting. someone goes those in and their whole face changes. it blows them away. no one actually expects the whole place to be made of ice. we have 40-50 tons of ice. >> ice chandeliers. >> we have everything. >> ice glassware. >> all the cabinets are ice. city, we'd like to bring something from the city into the ice are. like in new york, we have images of central park. the blocks ofnto ice on the walls? >> absolutely.

no matter where we are, we create something that people can talk about all stop with a nice cocktail, it blows you away. >> not only do you get to see all of this, but there is equipment. it is 23 degrees fahrenheit. >> you go through a reception area. you get a jacket which keeps you warm. you get gloves that you can throw away at the end. egon to the anteroom. -- you go into the insight room. when you are brave, you go into the ice bar. you see it all. >> this ice is brought in from canada. it is canadian ice. >> some of it is from canada, some is from the united states. we like clarity. we are fussy about the type of ice.

>> did you have to educate yourself about the types of ice and make some sort of rigorous organization? >> absolutely. we have many people working for us. they are working on various attractions. we handpick the ice together. what we are going to carp, we choose it together. it takes a lot of time to get it together. we are trying to find the right thing. these guys are amazing and incredible. is not onlyar something for the public, it can be rented out all stop you could have carvings and parties. >> that's right. corporate functions are huge for us. 35% of our business. we do fortune 500 companies. we do anything. we have done full-size cars. >> and automobile carved out of ice?

>> we had a carved out of ice and it was at the launch party. it blew everyone away. ice, it is can do it about the attraction of ice and what you can do with it all stop >> how long do people laugh in the ice bar? >> half an hour. 40 minutes. >> is there a particular drink that is most popular? >> we have about 12 cocktails. we have various other martinis that are popular. cocktails are standard cocktails. you can have whatever you want. >> what does it cost to put one of these together? >> $5 million from start to finish. it takes 18 months-two years. a lot goes into the backside of an ice bar. a lot of people think it is a

big freezer. they think it just blows cold air, but that is far from the truth. it is $1.5 million in engineering. it took me around three years to play together. >> from australia? well done. any plans to do one in scandinavia? >> we have extension plans this year. into -- we are opening in san francisco. we will open in honolulu. in april, we will do for you. >> you will be all over the map. >> we just did a deal in florida. and the cayman islands. it is a joint venture we are doing. hopefully we will have more done in the caribbean. >> i want to thank you very much. down ling, minus5 ice bar

there. coming up next, the owner of the birdland jazz club talks about the state of live music and the future of jazz in new york city will. ♪

in the 1930's and 1940's, manhattan was the center of the jazz world. , whose name was bird. closed,inal birdland but the modern one is going strong. the owner, gianni valenti, joins me now.

let's talk about music for a moment. any kind of for club. what happens over the course of the last two years? >> there was a decline. in the 1960's and the 1970's, most americans turned their back on jazz. it went away to europe and asia. they werely 1980's, starting a resurgence. last five that the years have been the past five years that we have had. that is mainly due to the education process of getting our younger people involved in music. probably, young people stay away. they thought it was older people. 90 c high schools, colleges, universities. they have great music programs. birdland what we do, especially

-- what we do, especially at birdland is we try to get young people involved. >> tell us about building birdland. it is based in the midtown, times square area. >> that is very interesting. i came to new york city and i went to nyu. i worked in the industry and i opened a restaurant. one afternoon, a young lady came in who happened to be there. we started chatting. parker, charlie parker's widow. the conversation went on and i was building another place nearby. she stopped in one day and said, this looks like the old birdland . we have to open up o'charley's bandstand. . had lunch with her

she brought a friend of her. it was max roach. he said, we have to do this. we have to do it right. i said, i am on board. we opened up that 100 fixed rate. -- 105th street. i educated myself and try to create this is the workplace that it was. in the 1940's and 1950's. in midtown. street in time square. >> what did you expect? what would be a perfect day at birdland? >> a perfect day would be arriving around 7:30 p.m., have a great dinner, and at 8:30 p.m., wait for a show to begin. there are a number of musicians.

40 or 50 streets from you. >> any chance you will take it on the road? you have the name and history. >> is interesting. i had a recent partnership with michael feinstein. he is a dear friend. and itin the process should be open by may. there will be a new birdland. >> where will that be? >> the new space is going to be above birdland where it is now. we took the basement to create a new club for emerging artists. what is important and what i think is to keep it going. to give us the opportunity to get emerging artist.

, the owner ofnti birdland. ♪

>> live from pier 3 in san francisco, welcome to "bloomberg west," where we focus on innovation, technology, and the future of business. i'm emily chang. could you soon be turning off the lights with your iphone? that might be an area that apple is looking at them and with millions getting ready, we kick off the special series of how technology is helping improve life in the great outdoors involving everything from searching, hiking, and camping good let's check on the bloomberg top headlines. qualcomm is hit by hackers. they're asking